


Turquoise

by Hand_of_the_Alex



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Coming Out, Fluff, High School, M/M, Prom, Soulmates, karen is the same age as mandy and ian, mickey got held back
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-10-29
Packaged: 2018-04-17 18:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4676858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hand_of_the_Alex/pseuds/Hand_of_the_Alex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you meet your soulmate both of your eye colours merge to form a stunning combination of the both. Ian had never thought he had any chance to find his because it was rare in the Southside of Chicago especially considering he was gay. So when he meets Mickey Milkovich his life changes and becomes a little brighter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> By the way I have no idea how the american school system works as I am British so just bare with me

Ian had a pretty normal life when it comes to living on the Southside of Chicago, his family was huge and hectic, his father was an alcoholic, his mother had bailed and they were short on cash. Most families he knew were like that or at least some variation of that. Perfect families weren't the norm in Southside.

Perfect families were usually categorised as a mum and a dad, both soulmates and 2.5 perfect children. Soulmates were quite rare in Ian's neighbourhood, no one had the resources or money to search their soul mate out, most just got stuck with someone they got pregnant or someone they actually liked but weren't destined for.

You could easily tell when someone had met their soulmate, all you had to do was look at their eyes. When someone meets their soulmate the eye colour of each person mixes together and forms and new, bright colour. Even if your soulmate has the same colour eyes as you it still mixes and becomes more vibrant, almost glowing.

Ian knew two couples who were perfect matches and he hoped he would get to have that love and devotion himself. His neighbours Kev and Vee were perfect for each other. Their eyes were a quite dark brown as both had brown eyes, Kev's were lighter than Vee's originally. But together they complimented each other and seemed to be as perfect a couple as you could get on the Southside.

The other couple involved his sister Fiona, it was a new thing so Ian couldn't really answer if it was perfect yet. Fiona had gone out clubbing and met Jimmy and her eyes lightened considerably from their usual warming brown to almost a murky grey/blue but still brighter than they'd ever been.

Ian didn't really expect to meet his soulmate, it was rare enough but to add the factor that he was gay into it did not improve his chances, it decreased it. Only his best friends Mandy and Karen and his brother Lip knew that he was gay and he hoped it would stay that way until he got out of the Southside so he didn't get his ass handed to him by the likes of Mickey Milkovich and his group of thugs.

It was a normal school morning so Ian woke up around 7am to get ready. His day usually started with a battle for the bathroom, the winner got to have a shower with hot water. Then the Gallagher clan sat down to breakfast which normally consisted of pop tarts or stale cereal although since Jimmy came into their lives he brought freshly bought coffee and pastries.

Ian could see how happy Jimmy made his sister when they looked at each other, their little smiles and glances.

"I want to meet my soulmate!" Debbie said after looking at the happy couple.

"Debs you're only thirteen, you have plenty of time to meet your soulmate and I'm sure you will." Ian replied to make his little sister happy.

"I know but they just look so happy and Fiona's eyes look really cool." Debbie whined before taking another spoonful of cereal.

"What if your soulmate doesn't have eyes?" Carl questioned from his chair next to the back door.

"Everyone has eyes you idiot." Debbie shot back.

"What if they lost them in a mad throwing star accident?" Carl said.

"Well then they would have still had eyes in the first place, so their soulmate would get their eye colour before they lost their eyes." Debbie explained.

"Shut up." Carl said before kicking Debbie under the table.

Ian smiled at his younger siblings, Lip hadn't seemed to notice the argument as he was reading some overly advanced book for some quiz he had at college later on in the day. Ian didn't want to go to college like Lip, he wanted to go to West Point and become an officer much to his families' distaste.

He was part of the ROTC and excelled in that, his grades were high thanks to the help of Lip so his chances of getting into West Point looked quite good. It was Ian's last year of high school and he just wanted it over as quickly as possible.

He usually kept to himself at school, with only a small group of friends which consisted of Mandy and Karen. Both girls were cheerleaders and quite popular but still hung around with Ian. Ian and Mandy had become friends after he had tripped some pervert teacher over for sticking his boner near her face, then she tried to have sex with Ian and his big reveal of his sexuality came out.

They became friends with Karen after Lip had pretty much got bored of her and moved on. Ian shouted at his brother for that and became friends with Karen soon after.

He met Karen on the way to school every morning and sometimes Mandy depending on if she had stayed out the night before. This morning it was all three of them, Ian listened to the steady flow of information from both girls on who was hot and sometimes stuff about school.

Before their first class the trio stood in front of the lockers talking, then the group of lads walked down the corridor, Ian had learned to avoid them at all costs and if he couldn't just keep his head down. Mickey was the leader of said gang of boys, although Mickey was Mandy's brother they had never formally met considering Mickey was hardly ever at the Milkovich house and preferred to spend his time getting high or hanging around with his group of goons.

Some of Mickey's group stopped to check out Mandy or Karen, mostly Karen because they were scared of what Mickey would do if any of them ever looked at Mandy wrong. The two dark haired Milkoviches didn't seem close at all on the outside but Ian knew they were fiercely protective of each other and wouldn't let anything bad happen. He knew this from the time Mandy had set Mickey and her other brothers on his for 'raping' her. It shortly got resolved without any bloodshed (well except for Lip).

Ian just grabbed his books from his locker and went with Karen to class. He hated trig, no matter how much tutoring from Lip he got he just couldn't comprehend it. As boring and difficult as it was he had to listen so he would get good enough grades for Westpoint.

After more classes in the morning he met up with Mandy and Karen and they sat together for lunch, sometimes at lunch girls would come up to him and touch his arm or some kind of contact. Ian knew he wasn't bad looking at all but some of these girls were so desperate for their soulmates it made Ian insane. They all hunted for the colour of eye they wanted to merge with theirs, as Ian had vibrant green eyes he was a clear competitor for the brightest and most desirable colour.

"What colour eyes do you want your soulmate to have?" Karen asked Mandy.

"I wouldn't mind either blue or green but obviously bright ones. Oh maybe dark blue with my light blue would look good. I don't know. What about you guys?" Mandy asked looking at the both of them.

"I don't care as long as I look hot." Karen said. The two girls then turned and looked at Ian.

"Not bothered." Ian answered.

"Come on you have to have a preference!" Mandy said.

"I like blue eyes." Ian simply answered and took another bite of his food.

"You're boring." Karen replied.

"Fuck off. I just don't really care." Ian mumbled.

After he had finished eating and being harassed by girls he went to the library, it wasn't uncommon to find Ian in the library looking for books to help him in English or going on the school computers to look up things that he didn't have access to on his home laptop which ran so slow he could hardly get on Facebook.

Today though he was there for a book to help him with trig, Lip had recommended it and told him to find the copy with the least penises drawn on it. He eventually found the book and it probably had the average of 1.5 penises per page so that wasn't so bad.

Just as he sat down to get started his book was being rudely taken from him. He was about to confront whoever took the book before he realised it was Mickey Milkovich. He may be intimidated by the older boy but he needed that book.

"Hey you mind getting your own?" Ian called which made Mickey stop in his tracks.

"Not really no." Mickey said along with a smirk and then turned back around to walk off.

Usually Ian would just leave it and let him have it and get another but today he wasn't in the mood to get walked all over.

"Give it back Mickey." Ian shouted which earned him some menacing looks from the librarians and a down right evil look from Mickey.

Mickey walked over to him and Ian regretted calling him out straight away. He slowly stepped back into the more private area because if he was going to get beat up he didn't want the whole school to see it.

"So you think you're a tough guy huh?" Mickey said getting closer to Ian.

"I just need the book because I actually want to learn." Ian shot back, he didn't want Mickey to see that he was actually terrified inside.

"Just cos I've been kept behind two years don't mean I want to be here another. So fuck you!" Mickey said back.

"You could have got your own book you know!" Ian whisper shouted back.

"You're really asking for it aren't you Gallagher. I'm not gonna go easy on you either because you're Mandy's friend." Mickey threatened.

Ian just closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable punch that was going to come his way. Then he remembered he wasn't some thug's punching bag and just as Mickey's arm was on it's way to his face he grabbed it and stopped it.

What came next he didn't expect. First came the millisecond of searing pain in his eyes which Mickey must have gotten too considering his arm went limp. Then they looked up to each other and looked into each other's turquoise eyes.

They were soulmates.

As soon as Ian was going to say something, Mickey grabbed him by the collar of his t-shirt. "Don't say a fucking word to anyone." Then he bolted out of the library.

Ian just stood there in shock and as he couldn't exactly hide his eyes all day he ran out of school too and hoped to bump into Mickey so they could actually sort things out and what the hell they were going to do to hide this. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mandy's phone text is in italics and Ian's is in italics and underlined :) Hope you enjoy the chapter!!

On his way home he didn't bump into Mickey unfortunately, so he just ran home. He had yet to go into the house in case one of his family members were there, Jimmy usually was if Fiona wasn't, to watch Liam, so Ian just walked into the back garden and sat in the van.

He just sat there and thought about the situation he was now in. It wasn't like he could just hide his eyes forever, he could wear contact lenses in school if he had to which he knew Mickey would be all for that. It wasn't just about hiding that he has a soulmate though, it's that he has now actually found his soulmate, the person that is perfect in every way for him. Mickey Milkovich is apparently perfect for him and gay.

In his spiral of thought he then caught himself looking in the side mirrors of the van, they were disgustingly dirty but things were still slightly visible just like his eyes. His once emerald green eyes were now a bright turquoise. The mix of Mickey's once beautiful blue eyes and his green made this incredible colour that he couldn't stop staring at and definitely didn't want to cover up.

His phone brought him out of the trance of just staring at his eyes when his text message alert noise sounded. Ian checked and saw that he had a text from Mandy, multiple actually.

 _Where did u go? I thought we were walking home?_ Sent at 3:00pm

 _Reply shithead_ Sent at 3:08pm

 _Guess I'll walk home on my own, if I get killed it's your fault_ Sent at 3:12pm

 _Nah I could handle myself better than you ever could_ Sent at 3:12pm

 _I didn't die, you don't have to live with that guilt any longer_ 3:24pm

 _We need to talk._ Sent at 4:10pm

After reading through each text he realised what time it actually was and how long he had been sat in the van, his siblings must be home by now. Firstly he had to apologise to Mandy for ditching her.

 _Sorry Mands I went home early_ Sent at 4:18pm

 _It's not Mandy. It's me and we need to talk. Meet me at the dugouts at 8._ Sent at 4:21pm

 _I'll be there_ Sent at 4:22pm

He knew the only other person that could get access to Mandy's phone and the only person who needed to talk to Ian, was Mickey. He was kind of excited to actually talk to Mickey, Ian knew he was a first class dick when he was with his friends so maybe just with Ian it would be different.

After about ten minutes of just sitting on his own enjoying the silence he heard a tap on the window, he turned to see Lip. As soon as Lip saw Ian though he flung the van door open, Ian was sure the door could have broken with the force and because it was pretty much all rust now anyway.

"Holy shit man! Your eyes!" Lip exclaimed and grabbed Ian's face to turn it towards him to get a better look.

"I know. Can you please get off my face?" Ian asked as his cheeks were starting to hurt a little bit and he knew Lip wouldn't be the first to do this.

"Who is it? Have you told the rest of them? No or they would have told me. It's a big day for you. Debbie is gonna be so excited. I really didn't think you would find your soulmate so early considering we are in the southside and how many gay southsiders are there really?" Lip rambled leading them up to the back door of the house.

As soon as the door was open all of his sibling surrounded him, except Liam who was content in Jimmy's arms. Fiona was the first to say something though, clearly happy but concern also laced her face.

"When did this happen?" She asked.

"At lunch in the library." Ian replied.

"Did anyone see?" Fiona questioned as she knew Ian's sexuality and if anyone saw it then they know about it too.

"No."

"Who is it?" She finally asked what everyone else was wondering.

"I can't tell you. He is heavily closeted." Ian said.

"Well this isn't an easy thing to hide, it's going to come out soon you know. But I trust you so if you won't tell us yet I won't pester you." Fiona said which made Ian very relieved.  "And neither will anyone else" She added giving a warning look to the rest of the Gallaghers.

"Ian's gay?" Carl questioned.

Everyone just laughed, Ian knew it was rather obvious and he wasn't trying to hide it at home anymore. But Carl wasn't the greatest at seeing the clues in things, he wasn't very smart.

"Your eyes look so pretty, I'm guessing he had blue eyes then." Debbie thought out loud.

"Can you lot please just drop it because I am starving." Ian said and headed for the fridge, taking out a couple of days old lasagna that Lip had swiped from college.

"Aren't you supposed to be in college?" Ian asked turning to Lip and putting his plate down on the kitchen counter.

"I've got no early lectures tomorrow so I thought I'd come and see my family. Is that such a crime?" Lip answered.

"Aww you miss us." Ian teased.

"I just don't want to miss any big news, you know like you finding your soulmate." Lip said. Ian gave him a pointed look. "Okay I'll drop it but I am going to find out who it is." Lip smirked.

After a couple of hours of everyone relentlessly staring at his eyes, Ian told them he was going out. It was half seven so he had to meet Mickey at eight, he didn't tell them that though.

"Are you meeting him?" Fiona asked when he was getting his coat on.

"I don't know what time I'll be back." Ian simply said, deflecting Fiona's question.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Fiona shouted when Ian was half way through the door.

"So I can do anything but murder?" Ian joked back.

"Fuck you. Go have fun with your secret soulmate." Fiona shouted affectionately.

Ian smiled and left his warm house. The walk wasn't long so he was there about ten minutes earlier than their organised meeting time. Surprisingly Mickey was already there, leaning against a wall smoking his cigarette.

Mickey noticed his arrival and stomped the cig out and turned towards Ian. Ian was still taken aback by Mickey's eyes, the exact same colour as his own but still looking much better on Mickey. He had never truly looked at Mickey and admired him but now he could see that he was actually rather attractive.

"So..." Ian trailed off to make things less awkward.

"I stole some contact lenses from some fancy place in Northside. No one has seen me but you so keep this quiet," Mickey ordered but then looked at Ian softly and added "please."

"I won't tell anyone, I know what coming out in the Southside would go down like. My family have seen me but don't know it's you." Ian explained trying to reassure Mickey.

"Right, good." Mickey said.

"So this is really crazy, huh?" Ian said trying to break the tension.

"Yeah." Mickey firmly said.

"So I should probably get your number so you don't have to text through Mandy next time we meet," Ian suggested and Mickey raised his eyebrows at the last part of his suggestion "I mean that's if you want to meet again, I know it can be risky around here and I know about your dad and your friends and.." Ian nervously rambled on before Mickey cut him off.

"Calm down Gallagher. Just give me your phone and I'll put my number in it." Mickey said accompanied by a short laugh, with his hand held out which Ian put his phone in.

Ian watched Mickey put in his number, the phone eliminating his face and making his turquoise eyes glimmer. Mickey then gave back the phone and definitely noticed Ian staring at his face.

"At least we got a good colour for our eyes and not something boring or murky. I think we got the best colour combination." Ian said his eyes not leaving Mickey's.

Mickey broke the eye contact before it got too intense. "You wanna chit chat more or do you wanna get on me?" Mickey asked with a smirk. The question shocked Ian as he didn't expect Mickey to be so forward. Ian smiled back and started to undo his belt.

* * *

 

Afterwards they said their goodbyes, well Ian said goodbye and Mickey just replied with 'yeah whatever'. The whole walk home Ian had a huge grin on his face, he had made sure to avoid any busy streets so he wouldn't have to deal with anyone from school yet. Mickey had sorted the whole keeping it a secret on his own so all Ian had to do was stay quiet and not say Mickey's name and pretty much pretend that they had never formally met.

Ian knew he would be bombarded with questions from everyone about his soulmate, he wasn't going to hide his eyes, as long as Mickey's were hidden they could avoid suspicion of being soulmates. He really hoped Mickey had a long term plan because he could only keep a secret for so long, especially with Mandy and Karen as his best friends.

When he finally got home, it was quite late so Debbie, Carl and Liam were probably asleep considering it was a school night. He took off his coat and boots and went into the front room, Lip was sat on the couch smoking.

"So are you gonna tell me who he is?" Lip started off with.

Ian huffed out an annoyed sigh as he sat next to his brother and stole the cigarette out from in between his fingers. "Nope." Ian said and exhaled smoke.

"C'mon man, we tell each other everything. I'd tell you who it was if I met my soulmate." Lip persisted.

"Well when you meet your soulmate neither of you will be under the risk of being hated or even being beat up in southside. You can just be happy and walk around holding hands or some shit."

"I won't tell a soul. Gallagher's promise." Lip said crossing his heart with his hands.

"Just drop it. Please." Ian commanded and gave Lip the cigarette back.

He went up the stairs to avoid any more of Lip's pleading. He had been having a nice evening until he had gotten home, Ian knew to expect this from Lip but he had just wanted to come home and go to bed and get mentally prepared for all the numerous questions he was bound to get tomorrow.

Ian eventually drifted off to sleep and his dreams were filled by his thuggish soulmate.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oopsie I forgot to upload last night :/ here you go! Please comment what you think!!

Ian woke up to Liam slapping his face with his tiny hands and repeating his name. He smiled at his little brother and slowly sat up as Liam got off the bed. He checked the time and realised he should have been out of bed ten minutes ago and his family must have sent Liam as a wake up call.

He got up and picked his usual attire of a tight vest top and a plaid shirt to go over it. Ian stumbled downstairs and grabbed whatever food was on the table (it was pancakes this morning) and then it was time to meet up Karen and Mandy.

After finishing his food and grabbing his bag he went out to meet Karen and Mandy half way from Karen's house, he mentally prepared answers to any question that they could possibly ask him.

On his short walk he kept his head down until he got there and looked up to his two best friends.

It only takes a millisecond for them to notice, both girl's eyes go wide as they take a closer look at Ian. Mandy grabs his face and peers into his newly turquoise eyes, Karen stands back and just stares.

"When did this happen?" Mandy is the first to speak.

"Yesterday at lunch, that's why I didn't walk home with you." Ian explained

"More important question," Karen pitched in "Who is it?"

"I can't tell you." Ian said and both girls just deflated and looked him straight in the eye.

"We are going to find out soon. I'm guessing it's 'cause he doesn't want to come out." Mandy said very seriously.

"Yeah it is." Ian answered.

"We will find out who this mysterious closeted soulmate is. I mean it's not hard we can just look at people's eyes." Karen replied.

"Is it someone at school?" Mandy asked, "Well it has to be 'cause it happened at lunch yesterday." She answered her own question.

"Can we just walk to school before we are all late please?" Ian said.

"You just want to see your soulmate there." Karen said and raised her eyebrows at him.

"Maybe I don't want a detention." Ian replied and Karen scoffed.

"Like you're all goody goody, you just want to seeeee him." She practically sang.

"Well lets not stand in the way of true love." Mandy said and she hooked her arms around both of theirs and started to walk.

The short walk to school was filled with relentless questions, Ian felt like he was in an interrogation. They only stopped when they finally got to school and both girls started frantically looking at everyone's eyes to try and find a match for Ian's. Ian knew it was hopeless but he wouldn't ruin their fun if it could buy him a couple more days of them not knowing until Mickey was ready.

The girls finally gave up and went to their usual place around Ian's locker and that's when the group of boys walked down the corridor, lead by Mickey. The contact lenses he had found were light blue but obviously not the same blue as his original stunning eyes which Ian hardly got to see before they changed.

As usual a couple of boys went to talk to Karen or Mandy, this time Mickey didn't watch who was talking to Mandy he had his eyes fixed on Ian. Ian looked up and their eyes were fixed on each other, Mickey then blatantly checked him out and smirked before gathering the rest of the group to move on.

Ian had a little smile on his face for the remainder of the time before their first lesson. As soon as he walked into the room all the eyes of the students who were there already were fixed on him. It was a rare thing for someone in high school to meet their soulmate and even rarer in southside. He immediately looked down and went to his seat still feeling many sets of eyes on him.

Some people he didn't even know leant over to his desk and started asking questions such as 'did you get your soulmate? and 'who is your soulmate?'. Ian simply ignored them knowing he would get many more questions like that until the whole school had seen him and it was just normal for him. Ian was kind of annoyed that Mickey wouldn't have to go through any of this, he was kind of annoyed that Mickey was wearing contacts in the first place. But he knew about Mickey and Mandy's dad and his views on gays and they were the opposite of accepting.

He got through his morning classes by ignoring every possible comment and staying silent to draw no extra attention to himself. When it was finally time for lunch he rushed out of the classroom and straight to the lockers where he meets Mandy and Karen every day.

It wasn't long until the two girls arrived, obviously stuck in conversation with each other that they hardly noticed Ian, except to check if he was there before they started walking to the dinner hall.  

"Me and Karen have looked at pretty much every guy in this god forsaken school and no one has the same coloured eyes as you." Mandy finally said to Ian.

Ian blinked multiple times in shock that she was actually including him in the conversation before simply saying, "I guess we are smart enough to hide."

"Contact lenses." Both girls turned and said to each other at the exact same time before turning to Ian as if asking if they had got it right. He nodded in response.

"Well that just made this much more difficult." Karen sighed.

"Then you should stop looking." Ian said loudly.

"Never." Mandy said undeterred.

"Just tell me who he is!" Karen pleaded quite loudly.

"Holy fuck Karen be quiet when saying that." Ian angrily whispered.

"Oh shit, sorry." Karen sunk into her seat slightly, looking very guilty.

"It's okay, simple mistake." Ian reassured but feeling uneasy that someone might have heard.

He stayed quiet during the remainder of lunch, constantly looking over his shoulder. He knew Karen didn't mean to say it so loudly in a public place but now he would constantly be on the look out for some homophobic douchebag wanting to beat him straight.

The rest of the day went by quickly as the rest of his classes were fairly subdued and the news of his new eye colour seemed to have died out quickly. He forgot about everything that had happened during the day when he remembered it was ROTC tonight.

Ian rushed home to get his gear and then went to ROTC, it was the best part of his week. It was just a constant in his life and something that made sense. No one asked him about his eyes, no one cared and he was so thankful to finally get a break from everything.

He was excelling in ROTC and hoped to get into West Point, even after everything that had happened with Lip pretty much getting in and forgetting about it being Ian's dream or anything. Even if he didn't get into West Point he wanted to go into the military and had all the skills to do so.

After ROTC had finished Ian went to get changed back into his normal clothes and go home. It was a short walk and took him past the Milkovich house, he hoped that he could get a glimpse of Mickey or even talk to him a little bit, they were soulmates after all and it wasn't something he could ignore.

Just as he was about to turn onto the Milkovich street he heard his last name being called, he turned to look and followed the shouts to an alley. He hesitated when he turned to see the caller, in his hesitation he decided to ignore it and get the hell out of there.

Ian could hear the increasing sound of footsteps coming from behind him, he picked up his pace and was nearly jogging. He wasn't fast enough though when someone harshly placed their hand on his shoulder. He turned to see around four guys looming over him.

"Can I help you?" He asked, trying to keep his cool and not seem intimidated.

"Yeah, we don't take kindly to faggots in our neighbourhood." The ring leader of the gang said and cracked his knuckles.

Ian gulped and turned to run.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't kill me for the cliff hanger please :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thought I'd post it a day early since last week it was a day late :) Even though it's a short chapter
> 
> Warning for some homophobic language used in this chapter! 
> 
> Mickey's texts are in bold
> 
> Ian's are italics and underlined

After only just finishing ROTC his body was not able to run at the speed it normally would if he wasn't fatigued. He was halfway down the street when one of them caught up to him. A punch in the gut caused Ian to fall to the ground and the rest of the gang to catch up.

He was strong but there was no way he could fight off this many people in his current state. No one was on the streets to call for help (not like anyone would in Southside). The boys were shouting homophobic things in his face, he had expected that. He didn't really listen and just waited for the inevitable.

It finally came when the largest of the boys kicked Ian in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to cough a couple of times before he got his breath back. The next boy dragged him to his feet only to punch him in the face causing him to fall again.

Ian frantically looked for any way out of his current situation, there was nothing. No one was coming to help him and he was unable to help himself. But he wouldn't just take it and do nothing. Even in the amount of pain he was in, he got up and punched the guy closest to him straight in the jaw. The boy staggered back and the rest of the gang looked at Ian with murderous gazes.

"Fairy knows how to punch, ey?" One of them said, Ian didn't see or particularly care which one said it.

Ian didn't grace them with a reply before he jumped towards one of them using his whole body weight to bring him down. They fell to the floor painfully and Ian couldn't help but groan considering his other injuries. As soon as he tried to get back up he was brought to the ground by one of them.

He was in too much pain to get up so just curled up and hid his face and waited for whatever they were going to do. He waited for a while before uncovering his face and seeing that someone had the gang’s attention.

"Who the fuck are you beating the crap out of on my street?" Ian heard a familiar voice say which brought relief to his whole body.

"Some fag." One of the guys spat, Ian saw blood come out of his mouth so it must have been the one he clocked in the jaw.

They stepped aside to let Mickey see who it was. They locked eye contact and Mickey just stepped back to look at the gang of boys.

"I see he got some of his own hits in?" Mickey asked looking at the state of two of them.

"Yeah but we got more in. Wanna help set him straight?" One of the boys asked and Mickey just raised his eyebrows.

Mickey walked towards Ian and he actually thought that his soulmate might do it to keep his image of a model straight thug. His doubts were smashed when Mickey immediately punched one of the guys in the face causing him to stagger and fall.

The rest of the group stared at Mickey in shock and confusion before he went for the other boys. Mickey may be small but he could punch like a boxer, Ian could see it from the force that it must have took to knock the guys over as they were not small guys at all.

Mickey made sure the guys were sufficiently knocked out and hurt before turning to Ian. He offered his hand so Ian could get up off the floor. He took it and groaned at the pain that was caused when he moved.

"You shoulda been more careful. I won't always be around to fight them off." Mickey said but there was some concern laced in his voice.

"I can handle myself." Ian huffed in not annoyance but disappointment that he needed Mickey to save him that time.

"Obviously not very well tough guy." Mickey said looking him over.

"I've just had ROTC so I had been working out for a couple of hours. I was tired." Ian angrily defended himself.

"I'm sure you were but next time, carry a gun or something." Mickey advised and then walked away towards his house.

"Thank you!" Ian shouted from where he still hadn't moved.

Mickey replied by giving Ian the finger and then going into his house.

It took Ian a lot longer than usual to get home considering he pretty much hobbled instead of his usual brisk walk. As soon as he got inside the house Fiona bounced up from the couch and was straight to him examining his face.

"What the fuck happened to you?!" She angrily asked still checking him over.

"Got jumped by a group of boys." Ian said, not telling her why yet.

"Are you alright?" She asked frantically.

"Yeah, might need some ice or something." Ian flinched as Fiona pressed on a bruise on his face.

"One bag of frozen peas coming right up." She said as she trotted off to the kitchen.

She gave him the bag of peas and then both of them sat on the couch. Ian winced when he put the bag to the biggest bruise on his face. His movements were small to avoid any more pain to be caused as he lent back into the cushion.

"So who did this to your sweet face? Did you know them?" Fiona questioned.

"No. Just some hood rats wanting to beat on someone to make their lives seem better." Ian said and shrugged slightly.

"So they did it for no reason?" Fiona asked unbelieving.

"Suppose so." Ian lied, not wanting Fiona to worry more than she already did with being the guardian of the household.

"Right, well you go up to bed. School tomorrow if you feel up to it. And I'll get V to check on those injuries to see of we have to take you to the ER." She reminded him.

"Okay. I'll see tomorrow. Night Fi," Ian waved and slowly walked up the stairs to his bedroom.

When he got up there he kicked off his shoes and got ready to sleep. Liam and Carl were already asleep so he tried to be as quiet as possible when painfully got into bed. Once he had gotten as comfortable as he possibly could with the amount of bruises on his body he got his phone out to check if anyone had texted him.

No one had so he just played around on whatever free apps he had before his eyes started drooping and he needed to sleep. Just as he was about to lock his phone a text came through.

 **U get into anymore fights on your way home?** Sent at 1:23am

It was off Mickey, Ian had given him his number the other night by texting him after their time at the dugouts. He was surprised that Mickey had actually texted him and was obviously hiding concern with that text.

 _Nope! Think they were too scared of me to try again_ Sent at 1:24am

 **Scared of u? think yur mistaking yurself with someone** Sent at 1:24am

 _Nah i think it was my amazing skills that scared them ; )_ Sent at 1:25am

 **And what r these amazing skills? getting beaten to a pulp?** Sent at 1:26am

 _I got a few hits in_ Sent at 1:26am

 **I saw. Nice hit on that fucker's jaw** Sent at 1:27am

 _Why thank you tho I think your hits were more painful. Didn't that hurt your knuckles. I mean shit! you coulda broke that one guy's face!_ Sent at 1:28am

 **They r bruised up but nothin i havent done before** Sent at 1:29am

 _I guess they are good for that bad boy image you have going_ Sent at 1:29am

 **Bad boy image? U like bad boys ey Gallagher?** Sent at 1:30am

 _I guess I must cos we are perfect for each other apparently_ Sent at 1:30am

Mickey's usual instant reply doesn't come and Ian knows he has probably freaked him out with the soulmate thing. He immediately regrets that text and sighs. Until his phone vibrates again.

 **See u at school tomorrow. dont get in any more fights that you cant win** Sent at 1:35am

Ian is relieved. Mickey avoided the subject but still replied. Ian was excited about their couple of seconds of eye contact they would get tomorrow. That's the best they could do at school but it somehow made his day better. Soon he drifted off into a still sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uploaded on time this week :)

In the morning Ian woke up on time without needing his little brother to wake him up. He jolted out of bed and then quickly remembered his injuries and groaned. Carl and Liam weren't awake yet so he quietly left the room and went to the bathroom.

He checked out his face in the mirror, the deep purple bruises were a stark contrast against his pale face. His bright turquoise eyes stood out even more. He pressed on the tender flesh and winced. Ian then had a shower and went downstairs for breakfast.

Fiona was already awake and was cooking pancakes, Jimmy was sat at the table reading something on his phone. Fiona seemed happier than normal since she met Jimmy, their relationship had really flourished since Jimmy had stopped trying to buy everything for Fiona and she had actually spent some time for just the two of them away from the house. Ian wished that he could just be out and happy with Mickey but that obviously couldn't and wouldn't happen.

"Hey sweetface. Want some banana pancakes?" Fiona asked noticing that Ian was there, her eyes surveying his injuries.

"Sure, thanks Fi." Ian answered taking a seat on one of the stools across from the cooker.

"You think you're okay to go to school? Or do I need to get V to come and check you over now?" She asked, flipping the pancakes.

"Yeah I can go to school, It's not like it's the first time I've been beaten up." Ian reminded her.

"Doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt." Fiona said and looked him straight in the eyes before dishing out the pancakes and shouting the kids down to breakfast.

"I'm fine." Ian reassured her and went to sit at the table.

"Well straight after school we are going to V's to make sure." Fiona commanded and sat next to Jimmy.

"Okay Fi but if I'm fine after that I did promise to go to Mandy's and study."

"Okay but only if you are okay, don't want you needing to go to the hospital."

"Woah Ian! What happened to your face?!" Carl shouted and bounded over from the stairs.

"Some guys decided they didn't like me." Ian said as if it was nothing.

"Did you fight them all off?" Carl asked and sat across from him at the table and shoveled pancakes onto his plate.

"I had some help." Ian admitted remembering Mickey pretty much saving him.

"Off whom?" It was Fiona now that asked.

"Him." Ian replied, hoping they all know who he was talking about without further prying.

"So you got some badass fighter guy!" Carl exclaimed.

"Well he is from southside and you can't grow up here without learning how to fight." Ian answered.

"Ian!" Liam shouted from Debbie's arms.

"Hey buddy." Ian called back.

"Why is your face like that?" Liam asked.

"Nothing to worry about handsome!" Fiona said and took Liam off Debbie and sat him at the table next to her.

"The fuck happened to you?" Veronica asked walking into the kitchen from the back door.

"Will you check him over please V?" Fiona asked, thankful that her friend was there now and they didn't have to wait until after school.

"Get here then." Veronica called and went over to the where the fridge was and rooted through a cabinet above the cooker.

Ian followed her. She looked over his face, he winced every time she touched a bruise. She checked over his ribs if anything had broken. She gave him the all clear after putting some antiseptic on the cuts.

"Thanks V," Ian said as he grabbed his bag and went to leave the house. "I'm going to Mandy's after school straight away then Fi." He added.

Ian went to walk to his usual meeting spot with Karen and Mandy. He got there slightly later than normal and looked up to the two girl waiting for him. They took one look at him and their eyes went wide, not with the excitement of yesterday but with horror.

"Holy shit!" Karen exclaimed "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Can we please just walk to school? I've been asked if I'm okay several times today." Ian said.

"Yeah sure. But if you need us to beat someone up. We could fuck them up." Karen said and put her arm but and flexed her muscles.

"I don't think they will try again. Got some hits in on my own and I had help." Ian explained.

"Siblings or mystery soulmate?" Mandy asked.

"Soulmate." Ian simply replied.

The rest of the walk to school was filled with their usual chatter. They walked slower so Ian wouldn't have to walk quicker and cause him pain. They waited outside the locker for the bell and Mickey's group strutted up at their usual time.

Ian immediately looked for Mickey and smiled when he caught his eye. Mickey looked down and seemed to be concealing his own smile. Ian looked at Mickey's knuckles and saw the bruises and cuts from punching those guys, he might have even broken them. Mickey must have noticed the concern on his face and smirked in response.

The bell went and the group left and Mandy and Karen went to their class, which just left Ian and Mickey stood there. Mickey approached Ian but stayed at a safe distance away just in case anyone looked over.

"What you got now?" Mickey asked.

"Health." Ian said.

"Wanna skip?" Mickey asked and it shocked Ian but he still nodded his head eagerly.

Mickey checked the hallway for teachers before making his way out of the building. Ian followed and Mickey lead them to underneath the bleachers. He stood against the metal beams and lit a cigarette. Ian joined him there and took the cigarette from Mickey's fingers.

"So you good to go or are you too beat up?" Mickey asked and took the cigarette back.

Ian didn't reply and just started to undo his belt. Mickey smiled and put the cigarette out and followed Ian's lead.

* * *

 

They sat on the floor afterwards whilst Mickey smoked. Ian was sat quite close to him but not touching although he desperately wanted to be close to him, in every way. One thing Ian wanted to do the most was kiss Mickey, he had tried once and Mickey just turned away and threatened him. He would just have to wait until Mickey was comfortable with it before he tried again.

"So why did those dick heads start beating on you?" Mickey asked, huffing out some smoke.

"Cos I'm gay." Ian replied.

"How the fuck did they know?" Mickey asked, slightly angry but trying to remain composed.

"Karen pretty much shouted 'who is HE' about the soulmate thing so one of them must have overheard." Ian explained,.

"That's why you don't tell anyone at all. Fucks sake Gallagher, you gotta be careful about this shit." Mickey warned but in a calm voice which made Ian feel all nice inside.

"I'm gonna be a lot more careful now."

"You better be." Mickey said with his usual gruff anger.

Ian looked into Mickey’s eyes, the fake blue of the contact lenses seemed to be mocking his own turquoise eyes by not being the same. He desperately wanted to make Mickey take them out just so he could look into his eyes and know that they were soulmates and no one could change that.

“I should be getting to class now, trig is even harder when I’m not there to learn it,” Ian said glumly.

“See you around then.” Mickey said and got off the floor.

“Well I am studying with Mandy after school at yours so I guess we’ll see each other then.” Ian said.

Mickey didn’t reply and just walked off and Ian was content with that. He got up and dusted off his trousers and walked to class. He was a lot happier after being with Mickey, even with all his injuries he had a spring in his step.

The day after that was a usual day and when it was finally finished he walked with Mandy to her’s. Ian hoped to see Mickey there, he had told him he would be there or would that make Mickey try and avoid it or make him actually want to be there. Ian wish he knew how Mickey felt but that boy was not an open book and it would take a lot to get through and actually understand what was going on in his head.

When they got to the Milkovich house the two of them immediately sat on the dirty couch and got their school work out. Lots of people assumed Mandy was stupid and she let them but actually she was intelligent and worked hard but had no belief that she would ever get out of Southside or this dump of a house.

After about an hour of studying Mickey waltzed in with a giant cup and his usual grubby clothes and burped when he caught the sight of them.

“Douchebags.” Mickey said walking into his room.

“Ass face.” Mandy called back, her eyes not leaving the book.

Ian desperately wanted to go and see Mickey and talk to him. But one thing he wanted most was to look Mickey in the eyes, not the stupid artificial contacts he was wearing but his actual eyes that mirrored Ian’s. Maybe in the comfort of his room Mickey may take them out.

“I’m just gonna go to the bathroom.” Ian said excusing himself from Mandy’s presence.

“Hold the handle down when you flush.” Mandy said, her eyes still stuck on the book she was reading.

Ian got up and placed the book off his knees on the couch and headed towards Mickey’s room which lead to the bathroom (which he had no intention of using). The sign on the door didn’t deter him as he went into the room.

Mickey’s room was exactly how he imagine it to be, covered in posters of weapons and racist, white supremacy things. The room looked to be an organised mess with its fair amount of rubbish just lying on the floor. Mickey was sat on his bed counting the bills in his hands, if he had noticed Ian’s entrance he didn’t show it.

Mickey eventually looked up at Ian but then went back to counting the money. After he had finished he put it back down on the bedside table and stood up. He still had the contacts in which just made Ian uneasy because they just weren’t right, even before the colour change, they still weren’t Mickey’s blue.

“The fuck you lookin’ at?” Mickey asked when he noticed Ian just staring into his eyes and nowhere else.

“Your eyes. They’re not right.” Ian admitted.

“Gotta be careful. Only take ‘em out when I sleep. Bathroom is through my room and no one has any sense of privacy in this house.” Mickey explained.

“I got it. So I guess I should go back out there to Mandy if anyone might walk in.” Ian said wistfully and turned around.

“Ey, wait,” Mickey called. Ian turned back around and looked at Mickey as he took his contacts out. “We have twenty minutes before anyone else comes home and Mandy won’t disturb us.”

Ian got the hint and walked over to Mickey who had retreated back to the bed. He looked into the incredible turquoise eyes and joined him on the single bed.

* * *

 

Ian stumbled out of Mickey’s room and went back to the couch where Mandy was still studying but there was some food on the messy table.

“Took you long enough.” Mandy said when she looked up at him.

“Yeah your brother was in there forever.” He lied.

Mandy put the book down and turned on the TV and Xbox. She passed Ian a controller and they started playing Halo. It wasn’t long until Mickey came out of his room, his contacts back in. He sat on the couch next to Ian and took the controller off him. Ian turned and smiled at him. Mandy had no idea what was going on and he was kind of liking it that way.

A couple of minutes later two people burst through the door with bags of food. Ian assumed one of them was one of the Milkovich brothers and the other was his soulmate as they both had the same incredibly blue eyes.

The woman went straight for the messy kitchen to put away the food and the man soon followed with the rest of the bags. The woman certainly looked like she didn’t belong in this neighbourhood, she was well dressed, didn’t look like she had ever been in a fight and her hair was immaculate.

“Does anyone want a cup of tea?” She asked in a British accent which confused Ian even more to why she was in Southside.

“No one drinks that shit but you, babe.” Her soulmate answered.

“Mickey’s new friend might, Iggy.” She called back.

“Ian 's actually my friend, Libby.” Mandy said.

“Sorry. I just assumed he was Mickey’s by how close they are sitting.” Libby commented and went back to the kitchen.

Mickey immediately shifted over and further away from Ian. Ian could tell that Mickey was uncomfortable now and was looking anywhere but Ian, he could feel the tension coming off the older boy.

It wasn’t long until Mickey actually got up and went back to his room and then even left the house mumbling about going out, he had been uneasy since what Libby had said. Mandy had been looking over at the two of them as if she was surveying them for any sign of closeness.

Ian knew it wouldn’t be long until she figured it out but all he could do was try and delay the inevitable. He then decided it was probably time to leave before Mandy started asking questions. He quickly said goodbye and left.

As he stepped outside the smell of smoke filled the air, he turned to see where it was coming from and saw Mickey leaning against the house. As soon as Mickey saw that Ian had noticed him, he smiled.

“You been waiting for me?” Ian asked.

“Well I bet those guys from yesterday won’t be too happy so I thought maybe you needed some protection cos you can’t fuck me if you’re crippled” Mickey said and it shocked Ian. Mickey tried to play it off as a joke but Ian knew he was genuinely concerned on whether Ian got hurt again.

“Okay then Mick.” Ian replied, not wanting to make fun of him or even decline the offer.

Mickey sauntered over and they started walking, they passed the cigarette between them until it was too small to get anything out of.

“So how come your dad wasn’t home?” Ian asked.

“Got himself thrown in the can again. Broke parole.” Mickey explained.

“So what’s with your brother’s soul mate? She’s english.” Ian asked as he was genuinely curious.

“Met in some comic book shop or something and for some fuckin’ reason she decided to stay here with him.”

They were nearly at the Gallagher house when Mickey stopped walking. It took a second for Ian to notice Mickey was no longer by his side when he turned back.

“See ya tomorrow then Mick?” Ian asked.

“Yeah whatever.” Mickey said nonchalantly.

Ian got to his front door before turning back, Mickey was still in the place he had stopped. Ian waved and Mickey gave him the finger. He got into the house and then looked through the window to see Mickey walking away.

He went to his room and lay on his bed, he had no work to do or anything so he simply went to sleep, a smile remaining on his face because somehow he was falling for Mickey Milkovich faster than he ever thought he could fall for anyone.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ;)

It had been around two months since Ian found out that Mickey was his soul mate. No one had found out yet (Mandy was very close to finding out and Ian knew that), the two of them had managed to meet pretty much every day without anyone the wiser. They were growing closer too, Mickey wouldn’t admit that but Ian knew they were. Mickey always listened to Ian, he didn’t talk much but he listened, Ian knew that as whenever he mentioned something he liked or something he was going to do Mickey had remembered and might even bring it up.

Everything was going fine and both boys were happy.

That was until the first poster went up, prom was coming soon. Ian knew that Mickey had to go to keep up his reputation and definitely couldn’t bring him as his date. He knew he would have to suffer through watching his soul mate bringing some girl to prom.

Mandy walked over to Ian and saw the poster that he was looking at. She looked at him and squealed excitedly and grabbed his hand and dragged him to the locker they always met at. Karen had been ill for a couple of days so she wasn’t in school, Mandy constantly texted her on what was going on though and as Ian could see she was texting her right now.

“I’m so excited,” She finally spoke, “All I have to do is find a date and that won’t be hard.”

“Who are you thinking of?” Ian asked knowing Mandy had a mental list of guys who would be all over her.

“I don’t know yet but half of the football team springs to mind.” Mandy said with a smirk. “What about you?” She asked.

“I’ll go stag.” Ian said knowing he didn’t want to go with anyone but Mickey and he wouldn’t really be an option.

“How about instead of me going with some meathead who just wants to fuck me, I go with you? We can go together?” Mandy suggested.

“I don’t want you to go with me out of pity.”

“I won’t be. I want to go to prom with my favourite guy.” Mandy said with a smile and then tugged Ian’s face down and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Okay then. I would love to go to prom with you Mandy.” Ian smiled.

“Now that that’s sorted, let’s get to class.” She said linking arms with Ian.

They had the same history class and Ian sat in the seat behind her and made sure to trip over the pervy teacher whenever he got too close to his best friend. They spent the remainder of the lesson talking about prom and it actually made Ian pretty excited to go and just have fun with Mandy and Karen and try and ignore the fact that his soulmate will be there with someone who isn’t him.

The rest of Ian’s classes went by quickly before it was lunch. He waited for Mandy by the lockers and then they walked into the hall together and got their food. The whole senior class seemed to be going prom mad with the snippets of conversations Ian overheard. Guys were going over to tables filled with cheerleaders and asking them to prom, couples talking about coordinating their dresses and ties and the tragic rejections.

“Pretty much everyone already has a date to prom.” Mandy said, looking up from her phone.

“Oh well I’m glad we got it over and done with then.” Ian replied as he truly was glad he didn’t have to do that.

“Karen even has a date and she isn’t even here!” Mandy exclaimed.

“Who?” Ian asked.

“Some guy called Matt, I think they’re fucking.” Mandy explained.

“I’m glad.”

“My brother has decided to pick the coldest bitch in the school to go with.” Mandy said as if it was nothing.

Ian felt his heart break a little bit, he knew there was no chance of going with Mickey but he didn’t expect him to get a date this quickly, and if it was who he assumed Mandy was explaining then it probably wouldn’t be just a date to prom.

“Svetlana?” Ian asked softly.

“Yeah.” Mandy affirmed and looked over Ian’s face and nodded. “C’mon, let’s go outside I need to talk to you.” She then said and got up and threw away whatever food she had left. Ian followed her.

They walked outside and to the back of school where it was empty at that moment. Mandy stopped and turned to him and Ian knew what was coming. He knew she knew and he wasn’t really in the mood to deny it.

“I know it’s Mickey.” Mandy said which confirmed his thoughts. “That day you got beat up and your soulmate saved you, Mickey had bloody knuckles. You were in the ‘bathroom’ for a long time which is through Mickey’s room. Libby noticed how close you were sitting. You have been blowing me off to go meet your soulmate at the exact same time Mickey said he was going getting high. I found some contact lens solution in the bathroom. There is no point denying it because I know and you looking the way you did when I told you about Svetlana pretty much confirmed it.”

“You’re right.” Ian simply replied.

“I fucking know I’m right.” Mandy said and raised her eyebrows at him in true Milkovich manner. “I’m gonna help you. I’m gonna make sure Mickey gets his head out of his ass and admits that he actually likes you. I haven’t seen him smile as much as he has for the past month, ever. He likes you and I bet he hasn’t even kissed you yet huh?”

“No.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

“No! Don’t! It will freak him out.” Ian said frantically.

“Well he can have a big gay freak out and maybe it will do him some good!” Mandy said loudly.

“Can you just let me talk to him first?” Ian asked desperately. “Please.”

Mandy just nodded and then took Ian’s arm and they walked back to the dinner hall. Ian had a free period yet which he should be using to study but he and Mickey had arranged to meet under the bleachers (which turned out to be their usual meeting space).

When the bell rang and everyone started filing to class Ian made his way to where he knew Mickey would be and waited a minute before he saw the familiar shape of his soulmate swinging around the bars to get to him.

Ian smiled at the grin which had started to fill Mickey’s face on most occasions when they got some free time together. They had started to talk before getting down to it most times now, so Ian just sat on the floor and Mickey joined him without argument.

“So I’m guessing you heard about me taking Svetlana to prom?” Mickey started out with which confused Ian as Mickey sounded rather guilty about it.

“Yeah.” Ian simply said.

“You know why I’m taking her though right?” Mickey asked and his voice sounded so small that Ian just wanted to give him a hug.

“Yeah Mick, it’s okay I know.” Ian reassured.

“Who you taking?” Mickey asked.

“Me and Mandy are going together as just friends. Wouldn’t want to make you jealous again.” Ian joked.

“I don’t get jealous.” Mickey stated and Ian could swear he saw him pout for a second.

“Mick you beat up one of my ex fuck buddies for hitting on me.”

“He wasn’t hitting on you. He tried to kiss you without even talking to you first!”

“Least he wasn’t afraid to.” Ian said quietly but he knew Mickey probably heard it considering the heartbroken look on his face.

“Well have fun dress shopping with my sister.” Mickey said as a joke but it didn’t have his mischievous grin behind it.

“I’ve been shopping with Mandy before, it wasn’t too bad.” Ian replied, sticking up for his best friend.

“That was just normal shopping. When she had to get a dress for Iggy’s wedding she dragged me along for some fuckin’ reason and we were there for hours because she ‘couldn’t just have any dress cos’ it’s important’.” Mickey explained.

“Well Karen will be there to help it along and not put me on the spot to which looks better. And aren’t you going to go dress shopping with Svetlana.” Ian asked and said her name as if it personally offended him.

“Bitch can wear what she wants. I don’t give a fuck.” Mickey said and Ian believed him. “There’s one person though that I care what is wearing at this minute. This fuckin’ ginger kid is wearing way too many clothes.” Mickey said with a smirk and Ian just laughed and then started to take his shirt off.

* * *

 

“Right I gotta go to class soon.” Ian said tying his belt.

“Yeah me too.” Mickey said back, putting his dirty tank top back on.

“See you later then Mick.” Ian called as he was about to leave.

To his surprise Mickey ran straight up to him wrapped his arm round to the back of Ian’s head and pulled him down to place a chaste kiss to his lips. Before Ian could say anything Mickey jogged away giving him the finger before he disappeared out of sight.

Ian stood there for a moment with a goofy smile on his face. It was a while before he finally got to class, he apologised and went to his seat. Mandy was in this class so she immediately turned to him and saw the look on his face.

“You have a good talk with my brother?” Mandy whispered.

“He kissed me.” Was all Ian could say, he hadn’t even come to terms with it yet but knew it meant their relationship was more than just convenient sex and Mickey was developing the feelings that Ian had already harboured for his soulmate.

“Holy shit.” Mandy said with a smile. “I didn’t think he would do it this early on without a push, he must really like you.”

Ian couldn’t reply due to the wide grin on his face. He also couldn’t reply when the teacher asked him a question which caused him to be shouted at but even that couldn’t dampen his mood. Mandy kept looking back to him and noticing the smile on his face and just laughing at him but he couldn’t give a damn because Mickey Milkovich had kissed him.

After the lesson had ended Mandy hooked her arm through Ian’s and lead them out of school. Ian listened to her talk about prom all the way home, she talked about what colour dress would suit her and shoes and other things that Ian didn’t really care about but pretended to be interested for her sake.

They went their separate ways and Ian went into his house.

Jimmy was sat on the couch with Liam next to him colouring in a picture of something, Fiona was in the kitchen cooking food for everyone and Debbie and Carl were sat at the table. Lip hadn’t been home since the other night and Ian was quite glad as his older brother just didn’t know when to give up.

“Hey Ian, food’s nearly done.” Fiona called from the kitchen.

“Okay, I’m just gonna put my bag in my room.” Ian said back and walked up the stairs.

He checked his phone to find texts from Mickey:

 **Why the fuck didn’t u tell me Mandy knows?** Sent at 4:55pm

 **Anyone else important know? you know anyone in contact with my gay basher dad? anyone who could let it slip and lead to our deaths? holy fuck** Sent at 4:57pm

 _Mick calm down its only Mandy she wont tell a soul and u know it_ Sent at 4:57pm

 **I know she wont but it doesnt mean she wont slip up! she could get drunk and tell karen and u kno how well she keeps secrets by the beating u got last month** Sent at 4:59pm

 _She WONT tell anyone!! trust me on this_ Sent at 5:00pm

 **she might.** Sent at 5:03pm

 _Wanna meet up later?_ Sent at 5:04pm

 **I’ll see what i can do i’ll text u later if i can** Sent at 5:04pm

 _See you then hopefully :)_ Sent at 5:05pm

Ian smiled and put his phone away and went downstairs for food. Everyone was sat at the table already eating, well Jimmy was feeding Liam so he wasn’t eating at that moment. Ian took his seat and dug in listening to the random chatter from his siblings. They all remained seated even after they had finished their food.

Minutes later his phone buzzed and Ian eagerly looked down to see if Mickey had texted.

 **Cant meet gotta make some money to afford prom, maybe next time? ;)** Sent at 5:46pm

 _Thats fine. Dont get arrested please cant fuck u if youre in jail :)_ Sent at 5:46pm

 **That the only reason? I am hurt Ian! Guess im just a booty call ey? ;)** Sent at 5:47pm

 _Destiny has put us together just for sex it seems ;)_ Sent at 5:47pm

 **Well at least u got a big dick so not too bad** Sent at 5:47pm

 _You forgot to mention my dazzling personality_ Sent at 5:48pm

 **By that do u mean never shuts the fuck up? :P** Sent at 5:48pm

 _Ouch Mick you are really insulting me now! :D_ Sent at 5:49pm

 **Fuck off man. Well i actually gotta go now so see u tomorrow at school??** Sent at 5:50pm

 _I dont know after you said i talk too much. i guess i will find a new soulmate who likes me for who i am!!_ Sent at 5:50pm

 _Jk see u then ;)_  Sent at 5:50pm

Ian looked back up to the table and saw his whole family looking at him. He knew he had a stupid grin on his face after texting Mickey, they usually fell into easy banter in conversation and Ian loved it.

“Texting him?” Fiona asked.

“Yeah.” Ian replied not giving anything away as even after all this time his family had no idea that it was Mickey.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile that wide since you were little and just smiled at everything.” Fiona commented.

“He’s funny.” Ian said back truthfully.

“Good. I’m glad you found him. There’s nothing better than finding your soulmate and all that comes after it.” Fiona said looking dreamily at Jimmy.

“When did you get so sappy?” Carl asked.

“Shut up! It’s cute.” Debbie said punching Carl in the arm which led to him punching her back and Fiona having to split them up.

After they had been sat at the table for a while and they had all intently listened to Liam babble on about the animals he had learnt today, Ian decided to go and do some school work upstairs and just get a little bit of alone time until he went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way I love Svetlana but had to pick someone sooo.... no Svetlana hate


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning mentions of prostitution in this chapter (not of Ian or Mickey)
> 
> Enjoy!

The next day Ian was up and out of bed earlier than normal so he sat at the table and watched Fiona and Jimmy in the living room, they weren’t doing anything really but they were just being sweet together, like a couple should be. It made Ian imagine him and Mickey being like that, them living together and doing the little couple things: kissing him on the cheek before he leaves in the morning, sitting basically on his lap when they watch tv, forehead kisses, sleeping in the same bed all night. It was what Ian dreamed of as his perfect life.

Before long the rest of the Gallaghers were awake and the rush of breakfast was upon them. Ian had taken his time that morning and for once wasn’t in a rush, he had already gotten all of his things so decided to walk to meet Mandy early. He knew she wouldn’t be at their usual meeting place so he sent her a quick text saying he’d walk to hers (he only did that knowing her dad was in prison again).

Halfway there his phone chimed it’s text alert noise.

 _Okay! I’m nearly ready_ Sent 8:21am

It took Ian another ten minutes to get there and found Mandy sat on her front door steps smoking. When she saw him she smiled and butted her cig out before jumping up and walking over to him. He smiled and they walked in the direction of school, Karen was ill again so she wouldn’t be joining them.

“How come you were sat outside?” Ian asked as he would normally knock on and wait inside for her.

“Mickey’s friends were over. You know how those tools are.” Mandy explained.

“Yeah don’t blame you then.” Ian said knowing exactly what she meant.

“I don’t know how you put up with him.” Mandy huffed.

“Who? Mickey?” Ian asked.

“Yeah! He is such an ass, never lets me have first shower, always taking my food, giving me titty twists. I’m fucking sick of him!” Mandy complained.

“Well thankfully he has yet to give me a titty twist.” Ian laughed. He didn’t know why the list of what Mandy gave him about what Mickey did, somehow made Mickey seem so endearing.

“Ugh! You’ve got that dopey love look in your eyes again!” Mandy shouted.

“Sorry.” Ian said with a blush.

“Mickey let me see his eyes yesterday, you know his proper ones without the contacts in.” Mandy said.

“Yeah. And?”

“He really is your soulmate, huh? Your eyes are identical and damn they’re pretty. It’s just really nice even though you are stuck with my dick of a brother.” She explained. She looked over to Ian and scoffed. “You’ve got that look again!”

“Sorry.” Ian apologised again.

“Don’t be sorry to me, you can feel whatever towards my brother just please don’t let me see you two doing anything compromising.”

“Compromising? Big word.” Ian teased.

“At least I actually revised for English.”

“I was busy.” Ian defended himself.

“Oh yeah, let me guess. You were busy hanging around with a certain Milkovich who isn’t me?” Mandy joked.

“Yeah, I’m now best friends with Iggy.” Ian deadpanned.

“Exactly who I thought.” Mandy replied in a sarcastic tone.

“So I’m guessing you’re not too happy with the prom arrangement? She was round at ours last night and ordering Mick to earn some money for a perfect prom.” Mandy said spitefully.

“That’s why he couldn’t meet last night!” Ian exclaimed. “She shouldn’t be pushing him into that! Who does she think she is?” Ian continued angrily with large hand gestures.

“Queen of our trashy little school.” Mandy simply replied.

“Mick shouldn’t be doing her bidding.”

“He is keeping up his image of going to prom with a beautiful girl and boasting about fucking her even though he never will.”

“Are you sure he won’t?” Ian said in the smallest sounding voice.

“Nah Mickey is a lot of things but he is not a cheater. If you two are exclusive, which I’m assuming you are cos he kissed you and if you’re fucking someone else I will hurt you, he won’t cheat. That’s not who he is.” Mandy explained.

“I’d never cheat on Mick.” Ian said sternly.

“Good, now I won’t have to beat your gay ass up.” Mandy said playfully and punched his arm.

“Oh thank God. You can do some serious damage with that stick thing you have and the knife hardly anyone knows about.” Ian said truthfully.

“Girls in Southside shouldn’t leave the house without a knife. It sucks but men are dogs and don’t expect us to fight back.”

“I bet that guy you stabbed in the ball bag regretted that.”

“He’s glad that’s all I did.”

“I love you Mands.” Ian said and put his arm around the shorter Milkovich.

“Don’t let your boyfriend hear that, I’d rather not be on the other side of a Mickey glare.” Mandy said and shrugged out from Ian’s arm.

They finally got to school and stood by their locker for a while before going to class. The day was going quite smoothly (well as smoothly as a high school in the Southside can go). Ian was having an alright day, that was until lunch time came around.

He met with Mandy and they found their table and sat down. A couple of Mandy’s friends sat with them and talked about prom, Ian pretended to be interested for a while until Svetlana came and sat with them and started to talk.

“Mickey will buy my dress and all things for prom.” She said in her strong Russian accent.

“Is that fair?” Ian couldn’t help but blurt out which made Mandy give him a stern look as if telling him to drop it.

“Yes. Man buys me things and gets me in return. My father taught me that.” She said as if it was a normal thing.

“Has he explicitly said he wants that?” Ian growled.

“What man wouldn’t. You all the same.” Svetlana said with an icy glare.

“No we’re not!” Ian shouted losing all hope of remaining calm. “I’m sorry but your father fucked you up! You don’t have to do anything in exchange for things bought for you or money. You don’t need to sell yourself to be treated right! Holy fuck. And not all men want that, I definitely wouldn’t! Yes most men around here a pigs but the odd few aren’t all you have to do is ask!” Ian shouted in the silent dinner hall before getting up out of his seat and marching out.

He ran out of the building to cool off. Outside was quite full but he ran to under the bleachers, the stoners had stopped using them after they got caught as somewhere to sit, so it was empty and silent and no one would find him.

He didn’t take into account the one person who knew about this place.

Mickey swung around the bars until he got to where Ian was sitting and sat next to him pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. They sat silently just passing the cig between them before it was burnt out.

“So I’m guessing you heard that today.” Ian finally said.

“The whole fuckin’ school heard it.” Mickey replied.

“Sorry. I know that she will be linked with you now and it’ll come back to you.” Ian said looking at the ground.

“Don’t care. I heard what you were saying, you’re too right that I don’t wanna fuck ‘er. She’s had a messed up childhood like the rest of us, I don’t wanna buy all her shit but I gotta so that people think I’m gonna fuck her. Not gonna though.” Mickey explained.

“Good.” Ian said lifting his head back up to look into Mickey’s not right blue eyes.

“How ‘bout we get outta here and I show you somethin’ to get that anger out.” Mickey suggested and Ian raised his eyebrows. “Not that kinda somethin’ but maybe later.” Mickey smirked.

* * *

 

Mickey had led Ian to some huge, falling apart, abandoned building. On the top floor window sills there were bottles lined up and broken ones shattered on the floor below. Mickey then pulled out a gun from his pants, which Ian knew he carried every day, and started shooting the bottles.

“Here you go.” Mickey said handing Ian the gun.

Ian walked over to the next window which had a similar setup and started to shoot. Because of his ROTC training he got each bottle exactly where he wanted to. When he had gotten them all he turned back to his soulmate who had an impressed look on his face.

“Not too shabby Gallagher.” Mickey nodded.

“Thought I had upgraded from Gallagher?” Ian asked playfully.

“Well how ‘bout I downgrade you to dumb ass for askin’ that question?” Mickey shot back.

“I prefer Gallagher to that one but my actual name is still my favourite.”

“Well then Ian, you get your anger out?” Mickey asked with a smile.

“Yeah I did. I think being around you helped that though. Don’t give me that ‘you sap’ look you know this soulmate thing does weird things.” Ian admitted “This what you normally do to release anger then?”

“Yeah or booty call you.” He smirked.

“Glad I’m good for that.” Ian smiled back knowing Mickey must be feeling the same as he is then.

“How ‘bout we see if I’m good for the getting rid of anger thing too then. I dragged my old mattress up here, wanna test it out?” Mickey said with raised eyebrows and biting his lip.

“Well I suppose we should test your theory.” Ian said in a tone as if it was a bother.

“For science.” Mickey said inching up to Ian with lust blown pupils.

“For science.” Ian repeated.

* * *

 

Ian had walked back to school a while later after testing their hypothesis and deeming it true. People who had been in the lunch hall that day had given him weary looks and everyone else just looked at him as the usually did. He grumbled some excuse to why he was late to a disinterested teacher and sat down.

He heard students around him talking about his outburst and then the ones who didn’t know about it and now do gave him a shocked look and the turned back to their friends. Ian tried to ignore their continuous whispering until he heard Mickey’s name come up. He listened intently before they mentioned that he’d followed him out and everyone thought he would beat Ian up. Ian nearly burst out laughing, if they knew the real reason they would be so shocked and confused.

It was the last lesson of the day because of the little trip out Ian and Mickey went on so Ian didn’t really listen to whatever the teacher was going on about and questioned why he even came back to school. Then he remembered when the day had ended and Mandy was waiting with her arms folded in front of the classroom. He quelled the need to hide his face from her in shame when she glared at him.

“Why the fuck did you do that?” She angrily asked when they were walking.

“I couldn’t stand how she was talking.” Ian tried to justify his outburst.

“Look Ian I know you have it shitty and most people do but some people have it worse. That’s how she was brought up and I’m surprised her parents even let her go to school. She’s doing her best and you were a little bit out of line. I get the anger and not asking Mick if he wanted it but you shouldn’t have shouted it in front of the whole school. You’re my bestfriend but sometimes you’re stupid. You played the ‘not all men’ card and that was fucking stupid.” Mandy explained and Ian understood everything she had said.

“Sorry Mands. I was just so angry I didn’t really think about what I was saying. I’ll say sorry tomorrow.” Ian said, defeated.

“Don’t apologise to that bitch! I know I just kinda defended her but you should have heard what she was saying after you left. She was basically shit talking my brother and if you were still there you would have killed her.” Mandy said.

“I’m not even gonna ask what she said.” Ian decided.

“Yeah that’s probably best. I hate her but I kind of pity her and it messes with my moral compass.” Mandy explained.

“Let’s just try and avoid her.” Ian suggested.

“Sounds like a plan. Now is my handsome prom date going to go dress shopping with me tomorrow?” Mandy asked.

“Well as long as I don’t have to pay for anything I am fine with that plan.” Ian said back with a smile.

“I don’t plan on paying either don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.” Mandy said and patted him on the pec.

“Sounds good!” Ian said enthusiastically and linked his arm around Mandy’s. “Is Karen joining us?”

“Nah, her mum is making her dress and it will probably be nicer than all of them because that woman might be bat shit crazy but she is skilled.”

“I have to agree, have you tasted her cooking? It is a gift!” Ian complimented. Sheila might not be completely mentally stable but she loved to cook and have people enjoy her food. Ian liked Sheila, she wasn’t treated right by Karen’s dad and Ian felt bad as she had never met her soulmate so couldn’t have the pure happiness of meeting them.

“Why do you think I go round to her house?” Mandy asked sarcastically.

“I’ll tell her that.” Ian threatened.

“She’d probably just shrug and say same” Mandy casually said and Ian agreed. Karen and her mum had gotten closer since her dad left but she loved to joke about it as she did when things got too heavy.

As they neared where they go their separate ways Mandy turned and looked Ian in the eye and had a serious look on her face.

“I know this is really cliche and gross and stuff but please don’t hurt Mickey, he may be a dick but he’s had enough shit in his life, so be nice. I know he means a lot to you and I don’t doubt that if you hurt him it would probably break you too but please don’t. Also don’t think I won’t be giving the same speech to Mickey, I’m not biased in this thing you got going on.” Mandy said.

“Don’t worry Mands I’m not gonna hurt one of the things that makes me the happiest.” Ian said honestly. Since Mickey properly came into his life it had just been filled with joy, if he was having a bad day he could just text Mickey and that would put a smile back on his face, he could just see Mickey’s face and his mood would boost dramatically.

“You’re such a sap it makes me sick.” Mandy said with a smile and then fake gagged.

“Just you wait ‘til you meet your soulmate, you’ll be disgustingly cute as well.” Ian said and put his arm around her shoulders.

“Gross. I’ll never be like that thank you very much.” Mandy scoffed.

“Just you wait until your dashing prince finds you.”

“Well if he finds me in Southside he’ll take one good look and leave.” Mandy joked but with a slightly serious tone to it.

“Just think about it, my sister’s soulmate is from Northside and is stupidly rich yet stays with her and couldn’t be happier, and what about Iggy’s soulmate, she’s from england for christs sake. And if anyone leaves you they’d have to be blind, stupid and a bit dewey in the head.” Ian reassured.

“Right now that mushy stuff is over with I’m gonna go home and then find myself a piece of man.” Mandy said and stuck her tongue out a little bit and widened her eyes.

“Well I hope you have a wonderful time.”

“I do most of the time but now I make better choices so I get what I want too.”

“Well that’s how it should be.”

“Now go home and be sappy and see you tomorrow.” Mandy waved him off.

“See ya.” Ian said back and walked towards his house.

When Ian got in he went to his room to get started on some work he had so he wouldn’t get too far behind in school. It wasn’t long before Carl walked in and dumped his bag on the floor and ran down for food, Ian chuckled and then checked his phone.

 **Cant meet again today making more money maybe tomorrow if my sister doesnt drag u around every shop for a dress** Sent at 4:39pm

 _It wont be that bad im sure i could sneak away if it is and find you somewhere ;)_ Sent at 4:41pm

 **Did mandy give u the hurt him and u die speech?** Sent at 4:41pm

 _Of course she did_ Sent at 4:41pm

 **She got that from every chick flick ever** Sent at 4:42pm

 _I kno. She drags me into them when we have nothing to do good job we sneak in cos i wouldnt pay for that_ Sent at 4:42pm

 **She told me u cried at titanic when u watched it at mine** Sent at 4:43pm

 _It was sad okay! i dont need to defend myself to u_ Sent at 4:44pm

 **Ok then tough guy. you go cry at some chick flicks cos i gotta leave now. so maybe see u tomorrow???** Sent at 4:44pm

 _Fuck you! and yes tomorrow_ Sent at 4:44pm

 _And dont get thrown in jail!! _ Sent at 4:44pm

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I filled a potential angst situation with fluff because I am weak.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tiny bit of angst cos why not, also it's quite a short chapter but leading up to the all important one ;)

Ian hadn’t met up with Mickey out of school hours for over a week and he hated it and hadn’t even seen him for the last couple of days. Every time they tried to make plans something came up or he had to go out and make money. Ian hadn’t felt the effects of not being around him for the first couple of days but after the week he was more anti-social and snappy than normal.

Mandy had found her dress so he didn’t have to go through that again (it took her three hours to choose one which looked like the other twenty she had tried on). He hadn’t gone out with her after that as he just wasn’t in the mood for it, he also wondered if Mickey was feeling the same. And thankfully he hadn’t seen or been around Svetlana since that lunch time.

At school he walked in with Mandy and Karen (she had been sleeping at her boyfriend/fuck buddies house and hadn’t bothered coming into school because she didn’t want to leave). They stood at their normal lockers and for the first time in a couple of days Mickey was in. He had dark circles around his eyes and looked grumpier than usual.

Although when he met eyes with Ian a sigh of relief came out of him and he let out the smallest smile and Ian mirrored him exactly as he felt the same. Then Mickey walked away suddenly and Ian felt his heart break a little bit. He wondered if Mickey was deliberately avoiding him as he hadn’t even replied to any texts in a while. The lists of things Ian possibly did wrong ran through his head, he ended up thinking about it that much that he didn’t notice that Mandy was talking to him until she took his arm and dragged him into a corner leaving Karen talking to some guy.

“What the fuck was that?” Mandy asked angrily.

“I don’t..I don’t know.” Ian said brokenly.

“Right he has been actly weird the past couple of days and you two look like you haven’t slept for like a year. He is really jumpy too, like someone is gonna beat the fuck out of him. Did something happen?” Mandy asked seriously and then changed her tone to a whisper. “Does someone know?”

“I don’t think so and if they have he hasn’t told me. He hasn’t said anything to me in the last couple of days. I don’t know what I did.” Ian explained.

“Something has scared him.” Mandy said sadly. “I’ll find out what it is.”

“Thanks.” Ian whispered.

“What the hell you guys? You can’t just ditch me” Karen said walking over before she saw the defeated look on Ian’s face. “What the hell has happened? Who do I need to beat up?” Karen asked angrily.

“It’s fine Karen, let’s just go to class.” Ian said even though he was still wondering what he had done and if that had scared Mickey, did he do something that was too intense for Mickey? The questions didn’t stop floating around in his head.

“I’ll get it out of you.” Karen said and then they all walked to class.

* * *

 

At lunch the three of them sat at their usual table but Ian didn’t want anything to eat or to talk to anyone so for the first half he just sat there silently before he watched Svetlana approach Mickey’s table and drape herself around him like she owned him. Mandy looked over at Ian, here eyes showed fear for what he was going to do and anger at what was happening.

Ian looked over and saw how tense Mickey looked and how he had stopped talking and then Svetlana looked over at Ian and gave a knowing smirk. Ian got up and left after that and went under the bleachers. He secretly hoped that Mickey would find him there again but after twenty minutes when lunch was about to end he gave up that hope.

He walked into class wearily, he was too emotionally exhausted to deal with whatever mathematical theorem or whatever they were learning today so he just sat on in his desk next to Mandy’s. She looked over to him and gave a sympathetic smile and he returned it with a weak one of his own.

He listened to the teacher drabble on about triangles before his head started to hurt like it had never hurt before, worse than when he got beat up, worse than when Frank hit him with a bottle. He ran out of the room and only made it halfway down the corridor before he had to sit down, Mandy was soon by his side, she looked very worried when she saw the state of him.

“I’m going to talk to Mickey right now. This obviously has to do with the soul-bond thing so he must be feeling as shitty but it’s his fault so I’m gonna drag him out of whatever class he is in to come and fix this.” Mandy said and got up and walked down the corridor looking in every class window.

It couldn’t have even been a minute before she returned with an angry Mickey at her side. Ian watched his entire face and posture change when they locked eyes though. Mickey was immediately at his side and holding his face.

“What the fuck is up with you?” Mickey asked trying to sound angry but all Ian could see and hear was concern.

“You! Jackass. Why are you avoiding him? It’s messing with his soul-bond thing!” Mandy shouted.

“Keep it down.” Mickey whispered as they were still outside of classrooms. “Svetlana found out and her pimp/dad knows our dad and she’s gonna tell him if I don’t act like her doting prom date and get her anything she wants.” Mickey explained.

“You could have told me.” Ian whispered.

“Didn’t wanna risk anything.” Mickey said softly.

“Well shithead you risked Ian. You’re so fucking stupid!” Mandy whispered angrily.

“I’ll sneak out later to come and see you ‘aight? In the place.” Mickey said to Ian.

“I’ll be there.” Ian weakly smiled.

“Good cos I’m feeling like shit and this soul bond thing is fucking stupid but I guess I don’t wanna get worse and there could be worse ways of getting better.” Mickey said.

“Gross.” Mandy scoffed.

Ian just laughed and got up off the floor already feeling much better. He saw Mickey give her the finger and realised how much he had missed his asshole of a soulmate the past week.

“I gotta go now.” Mickey said turning to leave but then looked back to Mandy. “Make sure he doesn’t die or anything stupid like that.” And then he walked off.

“Well at least we got to the bottom of that shit show.” Mandy sighed and put her arms on her hips. “He’s such a fucking idiot and I want to break Svetlana’s fucking face!” Mandy started to shout in frustration. “She can’t just threaten him with something like that, I knew she was cold but this is taking the piss.”

“Mandy, it’s okay. I’ll talk to her.” Ian said even though he didn’t think talking would happen, more likely shouting profanities at her until he feels satisfied.

“Let’s skip health and find her.” Mandy decided.

“What if she’s in class?” Ian pointed out the flaw in her plan.

“Then I’ll drag her out by her hair and we can have a chat.” Mandy said maliciously.

“Why don’t we go now, we’ve already missed a chunk of class so what’s the point of going back?” Ian suggested.

“This is why you’re the smart one.” Mandy smiled.

“Me? The smart one? You got that a bit wrong there Mands.”

“Okay then you’re an idiot like most men. Happy now?” Mandy asked.

“Sounds about right.” Ian agreed.

“This is why you’re my favourite.” Mandy said fondly as they began their search around school.

* * *

 

They found Svetlana in the yard outside of school, she was surrounded by her group of friends, smoking. When she saw them approaching she butted out her cigarette and the rest of the group dispersed leaving her alone.

“What do you want Orange Boy?” She asked in her thick Russian accent.

“You to leave Mickey alone.” Ian simply answered.

“Not going to happen. He buys me dress. He takes me to prom. Both our families happy.” Svetlana said as if that was a legitimate reason.

“What do you mean makes both families happy? Has fucking Terry arranged this?” Mandy asked angrily.

“Yes your father and mine talk in jail and arrange this so Mickey stops acting like faggot. If only they knew how true that is.” Svetlana said and spat on the ground.

Ian was one step away from punching her in the face. She had pushed every single button and the only thing that stopped Ian from hurting her was the fact that she knew about Mickey and him and therefore could tell Terry and that would make Mickey’s life even worse than it was.

“Don’t you fucking dare talk about my brother like that.” Mandy threatened stepping closer but that didn’t seem to phase Svetlana like it would with most people if a Milkovich threatened them. “And if you think about running to my shit stain of a father then I will make your life a living hell. You might think you’re connected and protected but you wouldn’t have seen anything like what will happen if you piss me off.” Mandy said oddly calm.

“Your brother will take me to prom and pretend to be happy or I tell Terry.” Svetlana simply said and walked away with her head held high.

Mandy screamed in frustration.

“For once can’t things just work out! I mean seriously who the fuck does she think she is!” Mandy shouted in no particular direction.

“This is just a sad fucked up situation.” Ian concurred.

“I’m gonna rip her head off!” Mandy continued to shout.

“You want me to help?” Ian offered.

“She threatened him and called him all that and now expects me to just leave it and grant her fucking wishes like she’s the queen or some shit. I no longer pity the bitch I wanna see her hurt.”

“Calm down Mands. We’ll figure it out.” Ian said when what Mandy was saying started to concern him because he could see the actual intent to do it.

“Sorry but she’s messing with two of the people I care about most and in Milkovich terms that equals dead man walking.” Mandy said quieter and sincerely.

“I know Mandy, I know. Maybe she’ll stop after prom and leave us all alone?” Ian hopefully suggested.

“Doubt it. She’s got leverage that she can use forever cos it’s not likely you and Mickey can just stop being soulmates so she can use that against you forever.” Mandy explained sadly.

“C’mon Mands, let’s just forget about her and go to our next class.” Ian defeatedly said.

He didn’t know what else to do, their already crappy situation had gotten worse and there was nothing much to fix it. He couldn’t risk Mickey’s dad finding out, he couldn’t risk most of Southside finding out, he didn’t want to actually hurt Svetlana or make her disappear like Mandy was suggesting. Ian just didn’t know what to do. And with prom in a couple of weeks he had to figure it out fast.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here it is!!

It was prom that night and Ian wasn’t looking forward to it as much as most people his age were. Yes he was going with his best friends and he always has fun with them but he was also going to see his soulmate with one of the people he most despises and there was nothing he could do about it. Ian and Mandy had tried to fix the situation but whatever they came up with either backfired or had no effect, so they basically gave up hoping after prom it would be the end of it.

He had met up with Mickey as much as possible because mostly he missed him and knew Mickey missed him too and also if they didn’t their health got worse and worse. The odd days where they got a couple of hours together were the highlights of Ian’s week, even just talking to Mickey about random shit brought his spirits high. They couldn’t really get away with anything but a couple of seconds of eye contact at school but every once in awhile when Svetlana wasn’t in, they could meet up at the bleachers and have fun.

Mandy had been giving him updates on the Svetlana situation at home as Mickey hated bringing her up when they were talking. Svetlana was basically living with them now as she had threatened to tell Terry if she didn’t. He knew there was little hope for Svetlana just leaving after prom now that she had a place to stay and couldn’t get kicked out because she was holding something over Mickey.

He was just going to try to make the thought go to the back of his mind and survive the night. His suit was ironed and hung over the side of Carl’s bed, it was a rich blue suit which looked expensive, the little rip on the inside was it’s only flaw (the rip may have been where the security tag was but no one can prove it). Mandy had picked out the rest of the outfit and the both of them had decided to forgo the stupid flower thing that everyone wears to prom.

He decided it was probably time to get ready, he had already had a shower so he only needed to get dressed and do his hair. Ian was meeting Mandy quite soon but thought it would be best to start getting ready closer to the time so nothing ruined his clothes because in the Gallagher house anything could happen, most of the time that anything included Liam running into him when holding sticky food of some kind.

He surprisingly got ready without any interruptions so it all went smoothly for once so he went downstairs to get in the car (it was Jimmy’s and Ian was fairly certain he didn’t buy it orginally). On the first step down the stairs he was greeted by a flash of light and Fiona’s delighted smile.

“You look great! Just look at him Vee! He’s so handsome.” Fiona cooed over him.

“Can you please stop so I can leave?” Ian asked, embarrassed.

“Nope! You’re the first of us to go to prom so I get to be gushy older sister for a little bit longer.” Fiona said and took another picture on her phone. “Just be glad that your boyfriend isn’t here or I would be taking at least a hundred photos of the two of you.” Fiona threatened.

“Can I please go now. Don’t want to keep Mandy waiting.” Ian said, knowing that they were more likely to let him go if Mandy was involved as they didn’t want to make her angry.

“Let the poor boy go.” Vee finally said after a couple more pictures and took Fiona’s phone.

“Have fun.” Fiona told him.

“I’ll try.” Ian replied and went to get in the car after seeing the text saying that Mandy was ready.

“How did Fiona talk me into being your personal chauffeur tonight?” Jimmy asked from the front seat.

“Mandy’s waiting for me, c’mon.” Ian whined. He didn’t like making Mandy wait and even though Jimmy and Fiona are soulmates he still didn’t entirely trust the guy.

They set off and quickly got to the Milkovich house, Mandy walked out of the door when they pulled up knowing that Ian would prefer not to be in the house when Svetlana was there. Mandy looked incredible in her navy dress, it was quite short and had some sequins on it to make it stand out.

“Well don’t you look dashing.” Mandy mocked with a smile as she got a good look at Ian.

“And you look truly beautiful.” Ian replied back in the same tone. “But seriously Mands, you do look great.”

“Not too shabby yourself.”

It didn’t take them long to get to school and get into prom. There was a photographer waiting at the entrance to see which couples or groups wanted photos, Ian and Mandy didn’t have the money to buy the end product so just went straight into the large hall where the prom was taking place. There were already quite a lot of people there, it also wasn’t very hard to see who had been sneaking in booze and who hadn’t.

The two of them met up with Karen after she had told him to get her some punch. She looked amazing in her large poofy, pink dress that was obviously all handmade by Sheila and looked exquisite. They all stood there talking until a song they all recognised came on and the two girls took Ian by both arms and dragged him onto the dance floor.

Ian was an appalling dancer and both Karen and Mandy knew this but still dragged him out with smirks on their faces. They all danced like idiots for a while until everybody’s conversations ceased and all attention was on the new arrivals to prom.

It was Mickey and Svetlana.

Svetlana was in a short, white dress which accentuated every part of her figure, it looked expensive and Ian knew what Mickey needed that much money for. She did look great but that didn’t make Ian like her or justify her actions at all.

When he got a good look at Mickey it was like his heart lept out of his chest. Ian really tried to stop staring at his soulmate but was unable to, he’d never seen Mickey look that good. He was wearing a crisp black suit which didn’t even look second-hand, it was teamed with a turquoise tie which Ian felt was an intentional choice by Svetlana to mock him.

Ian felt a tug on the sleeve of his suit and looked down to Mandy who was giving him sad eyes. She kept her hand on his sleeve and dragged him out into the quiet corridor and Karen followed.

“You gonna be okay?” Mandy asked.

“I’m fine.” Ian replied coldly as he was trying to be devoid of all emotion until the night was over.

“What the fuck is going on? You guys have been keeping a secret from me for ages and it’s doing my head in. You’re my best friends and I need to know.” Karen finally burst and put her hands on her hip.

Mandy looked at Ian and he just nodded.

“I found out who Ian’s soulmate is.” Mandy answered.

“Who? I can’t believe you kept this from me.” Karen asked, intrigued and still angry.

“It’s Mickey.” Ian answered for himself.

“Wait wait wait. Your brother Mickey? The same Mickey Milkovich that used to hit on me every morning? The one known for beating on gays?” Karen directed at Mandy, she was no longer angry as the shock settled in.

“The one and only.”

“Then why the fuck is he here with queen bitch Svetlana?”

“She’s blackmailing him and threatening to tell everybody.” Ian said.

“I’m gonna kill her!” Karen shouted.

“We’ve been through all the possible ways of stopping this and found none so we’re just letting it blow over hopefully.” Mandy explained.

“Right. After prom I am having a serious conversation with her. And you.” Karen said and pointed at Ian. “But right now we’re gonna go out there and have fun!”

\----------------------------

After about an hour of awful dancing and too many drunk students and equally as drunk teachers, Ian went outside for a smoke. Out there stood Mickey smoking his own cigarette, Ian walked over and stood next to him.

“My sister making you dance still?” Mickey asked but his usual light, joking tone wasn’t there.

“I finally got away when I said I needed a smoke.” Ian replied. “You doing okay?” He asked softly.

“I just needed to get away.” Mickey said sadly.

“Aren’t you sick of doing nothing and just following her command?” Ian asked more angrily than intended.

“Yes I fucking am! But there’s nothing I can do about it without her telling the whole fucking world!”

“What’s so bad about everyone knowing? They’d get over it! Your dad’s in prison! You could fuck up anyone who said anything! You have no reason to be afraid!” Ian viciously said.

“You don’t fucking understand what my dad is like if he knew. He’s already planning my fucking wedding for when he gets out!” Mickey blurted out.

“Wedding?” Ian asked softly, all anger gone.

“He said it was ‘bout time I got a woman and stopped acting like a faggot.” Mickey said quietly. “So Svetlana is more than just a prom date.”

“Fuck.” Ian got out.

“Yeah.” Mickey replied in the same tone.

“You’re just gonna let this happen?” Ian asked and then added, “what about me?”

“We can obviously still see each other but have to be quiet about it.” Mickey answered.

“So I’ll be your mistress?” Ian questioned and when Mickey didn’t answer he just walked away and back into the school and ignored Mickey’s shouts to come back.

He went to find Mandy and Karen. Ian saw Mandy by the punch bowl and Karen grinding on some guy on the dance floor. When Mandy saw his face Ian watched hers change into sympathy, she must have already knew or suspected.

“I’m gonna go.” Ian said when he got over to her.

“Why? What’s happened?” She demanded and Ian thought that maybe she didn’t know after all.

“Married. Fucking married.”

“What are you talking about?” Mandy asked.

“Mickey and Svetlana are getting married!” Ian said with a laugh because he still didn’t quite believe it himself.

“Are you serious?” Mandy shouted, her face changed from shock to anger.

Just as Ian was going to explain, Mickey jogged over. “Hey can I talk to you?” He asked Ian.

“No. I’m leaving.” Ian replied brashly.

“C’mon man. We can still see each other.” Mickey pleaded.

“No I’m done. I’m sure the clinic have something to help the soulmate pull so we don’t get ill. So I am completely done, I’m not some mistress or your dirty little secret.” Ian spat.

He then started to walk away but stopped when he heard the announcement for prom king and queen. He watched as the nominees went on stage, obviously Mickey and Svetlana were there. As soon as he saw Svetlana’s smug face when they said her name he went back to get his jacket and leave. Mickey’s name was announced as prom king and Ian didn’t even look back until he heard Mickey’s voice over the mic.

“Can I get everybody’s attention please. I got somethin’ to say.” Mickey started with and Ian fully turned around and stopped at his place by the door. “I know we’re meant to say some dumb fucking speech about how happy we are to win this and shit like that but I don’t give a fuck. I don’t give a fuck about prom, about this fucking awful school or the bitch that is my date tonight. I don’t care about anything but one thing.

“And that one thing is Ian Gallagher.” Mickey said and the hall went silent. So Mickey decided to start taking out his contact lenses and hopped off the stage.

“And if anyone has a fucking problem with it I will personally kick their ass!” He shouted from halfway down the hall.

Ian stood there shocked as everyone’s eyes were on him. Mickey stopped a couple of feet before him.

“You happy now?” He asked with raised eyebrows.

“Fucking faggots.” Someone maliciously said from beside them.

It wasn’t long until there were choruses of them but honestly Ian didn’t care because now he could look in Mickey’s eyes and not see the artificial blue that was always wrong but the amazing turquoise that mirrored his own. Mickey looked uncomfortable with all of the hate being shouted at them but his body posture still screamed ‘don’t mess with me’. Ian just hooked his arm around Mickey and was about to lead him outside.

Someone had grabbed the mic off stage and asked for everyone's attention, Ian recognised him from the group of guys Mickey usually hangs around with. Both boys turned to see what he had to say as it was more than likely about them.

“You lot just gonna let a couple of faggots walk out? It’s wrong and unnatural and those aids monkey’s don’t deserve to leave without us teaching them a lesson.” The guy angrily spat. “C’mon let's stop the fuckers. We can’t have that in our” The guy continued but was interrupted by Mandy running up on stage and punching him in the face.

“Unless anyone wants my foot colliding with their balls I would reconsider what he was saying.” Mandy shouted from the stage with a proud smile on her face.

Ian smiled at her and then opened the door that lead out of the hall and both him and Mickey left without caring if anyone saw them together because now they could be happy without giving a shit about anyone else’s opinion.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't beat the boys up cos they deserve some happiness and Mandy is too wonderful to let that happen.
> 
> I wish I could have wrote more on this chapter as it was the one I was looking forward to writing the most, but you know college started again and all that sad stuff.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is basically the epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Guess who finished writing this today?)

It had been a week since prom and everyone was adjusting nicely. Mickey had been staying with the Gallaghers from fear of going home but everyone was okay with it because they had seen how happy he made Ian. They had settled into some form of domesticity in the short time they had been living together.

The first time Lip came home and saw the new arrangements and who Ian’s soulmate actually was, he was very sceptical and didn’t trust Mickey or his intentions. He had tried to talk to Ian about it but he just ignore him and knew he wouldn’t understand, because he didn’t know Mickey or what he had done for him. No one truly knew how sweet and caring Mickey was because all they saw was the hardened southside trash that he let everybody see.

Ian hadn’t imagine his life would be this perfect before meeting Mickey but now, even with all the shit that’s going on, he wouldn’t change a thing. He got to wake up to Mickey every morning and go to sleep with him every night and if anyone tried to stop it then there would be hell to pay because after everything that had happened, no one would be taking them away from each other.

Mandy and Karen stopped by regularly, mostly for Mandy to give them updates on the goings on in the Milkovich house, they had found out that after the prom on her way home Svetlana had met her soulmate Nika and now they were living there and requesting to talk to Mickey. Everybody in the Milkovich house wanted to talk to Mickey but he was perfectly content with staying where he was.

It wasn’t until Mandy insisted that Mickey go and talk to them all and promised that they wouldn’t hurt him, that the two of them went to Mickey’s house.

Ian took note of how anxious Mickey looked, he had only see Mandy since he came out so had no idea how his brothers would react, especially after growing up in the same house as Terry and taught that being gay was disgusting from an early age. Mickey hesitated before going in, Ian simply put his hand on his soulmate’s shoulder and Mickey gave a small smile back and opened the door.

Mandy was sat on the couch along with Libby and what Ian assumed was another one of Mickey’s brothers. Mandy got up and went into a different room and then came back out only with Svetlana and another girl following her.

“Right. I’m here. What the fuck do you want?” Mickey asked, his tough bravado back up.

“I will live here now and not tell Terry about you being faggot with orange boy.” Svetlana stated, hands on her hip.

“You know you could have used the fucking phone to tell me that. That all you want? Yes, right. We’re going.” Mickey angrily said and turned to walk to the door before Iggy walked in the room.

“Hey! You just got here?” Iggy asked and sat on the couch where Mandy had gotten up, and hooked his arm around Libby.

“Yeah. Leavin’ now though.” Mickey grunted and turned back towards the door.

“Come sit down, I thought we needed a rematch on Halo? C’mon.” Iggy pleaded.

“Alright. If you really want me to beat your ass again.” Mickey said.

“Well it is what you’re best at.” The other brother mumbled.

“Fuck off Jamie, least he’s gettin’ laid.” Iggy defended.

“Didn’t mean anything bad, just sayin’” Jamie put his hands up in defense.

“Good. Cos Mick is still our brother and Milkoviches stick together. You don’t chose your soulmate man, it’s fuckin’ fate or some shit.” Iggy said. “Now move and give him space to sit.”

Mickey sat down when Jamie left mumbling something about having a job anyway. Ian sat on the arm of the couch next to him. He was so glad that Mickey’s brothers took it well, he was sure Mandy had a part in that as well as them not just being Terry’s minions.

“Your eyes are so weird now. I’m so used to seein’ you with blue eyes but this is just fuckin’ strange.” Iggy said looking at Mickey’s eyes and then to Ian’s and then back to Mickey’s. “Bet it was the same with me though. Sometimes I still look twice in the mirror cos I don’t think they’re mine.”

“Yeah it is pretty fuckin’ weird. Gettin’ used to it though.” Mickey replied.

“So you stayin’ here tonight?” Iggy asked as the game loaded.

“Nah gonna go back to Ian’s.” Mickey said looking intently at the screen as the game started.

“Well you’ve always got your bedroom here for whenever you wanna come back.” Iggy said.

“Isn’t Svetlana using it?” Ian asked.

“Nah man, she’s been staying in Terry’s room whilst he’s in the slammer.” Mickey answered.

“What’s gonna happen when he gets out?” Iggy asked.

“I don’t think he’s gonna be too fuckin’ happy with what’s going on so I guess it’s gonna end bloody.” Mickey said as if it was nothing but Ian knew that he was actually worried about it.

“If that happens, I want you to know that I’ll stick with you.” Iggy said with a smile.

“I was wonderin’ why this isn’t such a big deal to you. I thought it would be with how Terry brought us up?” Mickey asked.

“Nah man, I know what it’s like to meet your soulmate. You don’t control that or choose it, it happens for a reason and it’s the greatest fucking thing and I’m glad you met yours even if it’s a guy.” Iggy explained.

“Thanks man.” Mickey quietly said.

\-----------------------------------

After a surprisingly pleasant afternoon with the Milkoviches Ian and Mickey went back to the Gallagher house in time for dinner. Jimmy had told all of them to be there on time because there was an announcement, which was strange as most of the time when something happened to someone they would just tell one person and it would be passed around the rest of the household within an hour or so. They sat down at the table and waited for the rest of the family to turn up, which didn’t take long.

“C’mon what do you have to tell us all? I got shit to do.” Carl said restlessly.

“Wait until we’ve dished out your food and you do not have shit to do because we are all staying here for a while.” Fiona said back.

“Is this going to take long though Fi, I have a paper due tomorrow which I should probably start.” Lip asked from the other end of the table.

“We late?” Veronica said as her and Kevin burst through the back door.

“Nope. Come take a seat.” Fiona happily said and pulled round more chairs.

“Right, the food’s out and we’re all happy, can you get on with it.” Carl miserably said.

“Carl!” Debbie shouted at him.

“Thanks Debs. Right, you’re all here today because me and Jimmy want to say something.” Fiona started.

“You’re pregnant!” Carl shouted.

“You’ve got a new job.” Debbie guessed.

“You’ve killed someone and need help moving the body?” Mickey suggested and Ian chuckled.

“No. No. And definitely no.” Fiona answered. She then put her left hand on the table and Jimmy took it and held it up. “We’re engaged.”

“Is that it?” Carl asked, disinterested in the news.

“C’mon Carl this is a big thing! Can I be a bridesmaid pleaseee?” Debbie excitedly asked.

“Congrats!” Ian said and Mickey nodded along.

“You sure about this Fi?” Lip asked seriously.

“Yes I am. When you meet your soulmate Lip, you’ll know why.” Fiona replied.

“She’s not wrong.” Veronica added.

“No she isn’t.” Ian quietly said but Mickey must have heard because he took his hand under the table.

“Can I go play on the Xbox now?” Carl asked.

“No ‘congrats Fi’ or anything?” Fiona asked. Carl looked unimpressed at her before she relented, “go on, play your game then.”

\------------------------------------------------------

Later that night when Ian and Mickey were lay in bed together, Ian started thinking about their future. He knew they’d be together for as long as they live because that’s what soulmates are for, they’re perfect for each other and Ian truly wanted to be with Mickey for as long as he lives.

“I can hear you thinking and it’s fuckin’ annoying.” Mickey mumbled from under Ian’s arms.

“I can’t exactly turn my brain off.” Ian retorted.

“Well what you thinkin’ about then?”

“You.” Ian replied with a sappy smile.

“Naked?” Mickey said back with a mischievous smile.

“Unfortunately not.”

“Well what about me then?” Mickey asked.

“Just thinking about the future.” Ian truthfully said.

“Why, you thinkin’ I’m gonna stick with your sorry butt?” Mickey joked.

“Well I am hoping so.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Mickey sincerely said and looked into Ian’s turquoise eyes.

“I love you Mick.” Ian admitted, no point keeping it in any longer.

“Love you too. Now let’s get naked.” Mickey admitted and then played it off as a joke.

“Can’t say no to that.” Ian said happily.

* * *

 

The next morning Ian woke up with Mickey wrapped around him. Mickey’s phone had gone off and the sound had woken him up and then because Ian moved that woke Mickey up. Ian passed him his phone and untangled himself from Mickey’s arms.

He turned to look at Mickey, thinking it was going to be another happy morning until he saw the look on Mickey’s face.

“What is it?” Ian asked, concerned.

“Look.” Mickey simply said and passed the phone to Ian. It was a text from Mandy.

 

_Terry’s getting out. Overcrowding._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the end. It's been really fun writing this and I hope you all enjoyed it!!

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment what you thought! Most chapters are written already and there will be weekly updates!!
> 
> Find me on tumblr http://yourrbuckyy.tumblr.com/


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